Raiders Dominate Saints in Inaugural Las Vegas Home Game

Final: NO 24 LV 34 [W] (2-0)

Welcome in to the full recap of Week 2. The Raiders open up their first home game in Alllegiant Stadium and it'll be one to remember for Sin City. After a 10-0 start by Drew Brees and the Saints, Derek Carr and the Raiders roared back with 31 unanswered en route to an eventual 24-34 win to start 2-0.

Great win for the Raiders. You can't ask for a challenging matchup in your first home game at your new digs. The Saints without question are a juggernaut on offense. This was gonna be a test for the Raider D that had too many new parts. And it looked the part at the start. Drew Brees started off hot. Alvin Kamara was making people miss tackles in the open field. Tay Train got some hard runs in. The Saints looked sharp on their opening drive.

Yet astonishingly, the defense held them to 10 points in the 1st quarter. The defense is still a work-in-progress. I would like to see some pass rush generated since they upgraded the D-line. But after that 1st quarter, the defense adjusted to get more pressure. They put Brees under duress for the duration of the game. the young secondary took the top off to force the Saints to throw under or check down. The absence of Michael Thomas was big and it made the passing defense's job a lot easier to take out the big play. 

Despite the lack of sacks, the Raiders did force one INT. I think Nicholas Morrow's INT was the momentum-changing play of the game. The Raiders offense was already regaining some rhythm at that time. But Morrow's INT helped stall the Saints' two-minute drive with a possible score in the first half and allowed the Raiders to tie at 17 all, heading into the 2nd half. Some may argue Gruden's aggressive 4th down TD call in the 3rd as the momentum-shifting play, but Morrow's INT gave the defense a lot of confidence to hang with one of the best offenses in the league.

Offensively, there were some jitters at the opening drive. Carr was under durress from the Saints' pass rush. There was a missed golden opportunity with a deep ball TD to Henry Ruggs, but Carr just overshot him by a few yards. It was a forgettable 1st quarter.

However 2nd quarter onwards, it was a different story. The running game behind Josh Jacobs got better. Darren Waller came alive as Gruden moved him around, exploiting mismatches with the Saints' linebackers and secondary. Waller was hands down the MVP in the passing game with 12 receptions, 103 yards, and 1 TD. The Saints had no answer for him in coverage. 

While Waller gains all the glory, Derek Carr did a solid job distributing the ball around to accumulate for his stats with a 74% completion rate, 282 yards, and 3 TDs. He found 11 different receivers with Waller being the big one. But he tossed some TDs to Alec Ingold and Zay Jones for the Raiders' first 14 points. He also targeted Bryan Edwards early on for 2 receptions for 42 yards. I'm excited on the upside for this rookie. While Ruggs, Waller, and Renfrow get the attention, Edwards has a lot of potential as that 50/50 ball getter. 

Other positives, I should note: kudos to the shorthanded offensive line. Denzelle Good filled in for Trent Brown. Incognito got hurt this game, allowing opportunity for rookie John Simpson out of Clemson. They stepped up in the run blocking. Despite the two key linemen absent, this O-line was able to open big running lanes for Josh Jacobs and Jalen Richard. Richard stays burning the Saints. He had that fumble off a high pitch from Carr since 2016. But he redeemed himself with a 20 yard rushing TD off a toss play. 

Overall, this was an impressive for the Raiders. The Saints are an NFC South favorite with an elite offense and a middle-of-the-pack defense and the made the statement win. I liked that the team and the coaching staff stayed aggressive this game. Jon Gruden deserves some credit for trusting Carr and the offense on 4th and goal and Daniel Carlson to kick away the Saints' hopes of a comeback. Talk about a 180 for Carlson? He struggled last year. This year, he's making 50+ yarders with ease. 2-0, but this team is still working on some things? They might exceed expectations. The Patriots are next. That team may not be dead from Super Bowl contention. Containing Cam Newton will be a must. If they can do that, the Raiders can end years of misery vs. the Pats in Foxborough. I'll see you guys next week for that game.

Raiders Overcome Brees, Saints in the Big Easy for 1st Win

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders-Saints game where the Raiders overcame a 400+ passing yards day from Drew Brees and the Saints to rally and win 35-34 on the road in New Orleans.

1-0 baby! It has been awhile since we can rejoice for an opening win to start the season. It wasn't easy though. The Raiders had to earn it in front of a very hostile crowd and they just grinded it out. My voice is hurting, my heart was beating so fast on the last drive, but what a win. This is what football season is about.

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O-line adjustments by Mike Tice. This won't show up in the stats book, but think about the situation the Raiders' O-line was in during this game. Menelik Watson goes down. Matt McCants goes down. Austin Howard is inactive. We were losing right tackles. Tice made some gutsy adjustments shifting K.O. to left tackle, Jon Feliciano to left guard, Donald Penn to right tackle. All of a sudden to O-line played much better, opening up holes in the running game and giving Carr a lot of time to throw. All I can say is thank goodness we signed Kelechi Osemele in the offseason and shored up depth on the O-line with versatility.

Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 87 yards. The two-point conversion for the win at the end of the game was the reason why we kept Crabtree for four more years. He got off to a slow start during the game, but he kept his head in the game and made a couple of clutch catches. The two-point conversion was one of them, but the other catch before that was huge. It looked like Derek Carr was going to throw it away, but Crabtree somehow made the catch to move the chains. But, there's no denying his catch for the win was huge to put the Raiders past the Saints.

Jalen Richard, 3 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches, 11 yards. I gotta say, I love how deep the running back position is for the Raiders: Murray, Washington, and Richard. Murray scored early, but he struggled the majority game, causing the Raiders to play running back roulette. The explosive run by Richard midway through the 4th quarter was huge, allowing the Raiders to get back into the game. Just one hole and he was gone to the house for the Raiders to pull within two before Coop was able to tie it up.

Amari Cooper, 6 receptions, 137 yards. A nagging foot injury bothered Coop last season and it costed him a couple of drops and a Rookie of the Year season. But, this game, Cooper was back. Yes, the drops at the end bothered me, but he had some nice catches from Derek Carr to help set up the Raiders into the Saints' own territory. It would've been nice if he capped off this game with a TD, he had a chance, but the Saints did a good job covering him in the end zone. At least, he caught one of two critical two-point conversions. To be honest, I was scared that he was going to drop that catch, but he held on and helped tie up the game at 27.

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Penalties. "Pass interference, defense #25, at the spot of the foul, automatic first down." For every P.I. penalty that D.J. Hayden committed, I just wanted to kick something on the spot. If I may recall, the Raiders committed 12-13 penalties this game and most of it was on the defense. That's the reason why this game was what it is because the defense was allowing Drew Brees and the Saints' offense on the field for too long when they should be off the field after a good stop. But, penalties plus the secondary giving up a couple of explosive plays to Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead were recipes for disaster.

MVP

Jalen Richard, 95 total yards, 1 TD.

It was an impressive debut for the undrafted rookie. Not to mention, Louisiana was the state in which Richard was born in and coming back had to be special for him. His 75 yard run to the house was, in my opinion, the game-changing play as it helped the Raiders get back into the game.


Conclusion

I said in my preview that this game should be a statement game for the Raiders. They're on the road, playing in the Eastern time zone, inside a dome where it's really loud, and they made one heck of a statement by notching a win against the Saints. It wasn't pretty though, there's still a lot of things that need to be worked on, particularly the secondary still needs a lot of work and the playcalling on offense has to allow the offense to start fast rather start slow and come back. But still, this is a confidence builder for this young Raiders team that a lot of people are putting high expectations on them and they delivered. This is not the same old Raiders anymore and it looks like they've put the league on notice with this early big win. Next week, the Raiders return home for another NFC South showdown with the Falcons. Most definitely, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman are going to provide yet another stiff test for the defense, but the Falcons are beatable. Also, they are not a very good road team so the Raiders have to maximize the advantage on that weakness. I'll see you guys next week for that game.

Week 1 - Opener: RAIDERS @ New Orleans Saints 2nd Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the open thread discussion for the 2nd half of the Raiders-Saints matchup. As usual leave some comments below this post on your take for the game.

Q4

OAK 35 NO 34

I may need some pills to control my heart rate after this quarter. What a game, what a comeback. Brees and the Saints' offense will give you heart attack. The defense gave up a lot explosive plays, but the Raiders somehow, they just kept fighting. That last drive by Carr, that took a lot of guts. Going for the 2-point conversion for the win, I couldn't tell if that was Carr's call or Jack Del Rio's call, but what a call. Crabtree, best hands, makes the catch. Zone coverage at the end almost gave me a heart attack, but the Saints' kicker hooks it wide left. A lot of things went wrong, but as Al Davis used to say: Just Win Baby! And the Raiders did just that to begin the 2016 season. Stay tuned for the full postgame recap.

Q3

OAK 13 NO 24

What this game is telling me late is that there's still a lot of things that need to gel for this Raiders team. They're still not out yet, but the revamped secondary is not doing too good. They gave up a 98 yard play to Brandin Cooks when the Saints are backed into their own end zone. Sean Smith and Reggie Nelson got burned big time. In other news, the Raiders had the ball to start, but quick 3 and out and to make matters worse, they're super thin at right tackle.

Week 1 - Opener: RAIDERS @ New Orleans Saints 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the open thread discussion for the 1st half of the Raiders' road matchup vs. the New Orleans Saints. Leave some comments at the bottom of the post.

Q2

OAK 10 NO 17

What a luxury for the Saints to have someone like Drew Brees. The secondary is posing the same problems as last years. They're in soft coverage and it's allowing the Saints to hit on their short and hitch routes and of course, you have the explosive plays from Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead, which put the defense to the brink. 

The Raiders offense early on, they had a slow start. Quick 3 and outs with uninspiring playcalling is not how you want to start on the road. We know how potent the Saints offense is with Brees, Ingram, and Cooks, but holding them to 17 points despite playing a couple bend-but-don't-break defense is a job well done. But like I said, the secondary is starting to get exposed out there and Mack and Irvin are being neutralized out there. Probably the only positive I can see out there is the AC/DC connection. Derek Carr found Amari Cooper for a couple of big plays to set up Latavius Murray's touchdown. Carr had a highlight for himself in the 2nd quarter with a good scramble and a flip out of bounds to extend his arm for the first down. We need to see Carr do that more because we know he has the mobility to flush out of the pocket. Michael Crabtree was cold, only catching 1 pass for 8 yards. A couple of those throws, he should've had, but it's rare to see Crab drop a couple of balls since he has the best hands in the world. What can we expect from the 2nd half? The Raiders have the ball, I expect the offensive playbook to open up more. They need to utilize Washington and Walford, use all the weapons the Raiders have. This offense has too much talent to have some soft playcalling fed to them. Let's see what happens. I will open up the 2nd half thread now.

Q1

OAK 10 NO 3

Well, not the start that I expected, but it's still good enough. The defense set the tone on the first drive of the game. They were not letting Brees have his way, but Bruce Irvin with the strip sack gave the Raiders some good field position to start. However, I didn't like the way the playcalling went on offense and it lead to a quick three and out. During the Saints' second drive, I was thinking to myself: "well, here comes Brees." But once again, the defense held their own out there. I really liked the way how the Raiders responded on their second drive deep within their own territory. AC/DC lit it up with two big plays during that drive to set up Tay Train's TD.